A week ago we received a note from a reader questioning the use of early check-in fees at campgrounds. The RVer said he had been charged $25 for checking in two hours early to his reserved site. “In my eight years of RVing, this has never happened to us,” they wrote.
While “flipping” a campsite involves much less work than preparing a hotel room for the next guest, there are a few tasks to attend to each day between arrivals and departures. Grass gets mowed and watered, fire pits are cleaned, connections are checked, and trash cans are emptied. Along with the above tasks, campground staff also gets pulled away to clean pools and prepare cabins and other accommodations.
Add in the sudden infusion of millions more campers, many wanting to arrive “a few hours early,” and you have the beginnings of a severe bottleneck in campers coming and going.
I decided to ask a few campground owners about early check-in fees, along with how and why they are used. I’m not going to list the names of the campgrounds I contacted. Sometimes you get much more honest responses when you guarantee anonymity. But rest assured, the responses are from real owners and managers.
Here’s what I was told:
“We strictly enforce the ‘no check-in early’ policy on the phone, via email inquiries, and upon arrival. If a guest arrives early, we explain that our maintenance times are between 11-1 for RV and tent sites and 11-2 for all cabins. If their site is ready, we will let the guest in for a $20 early check-in fee. We see about 2-3 of those a week. It may look like there are plenty of sites available in the morning, but those are all likely reserved.”
“I charge $25 for early check-ins. If we’ve got a ton of arrivals, I’ll waive the early check-in fee in order to clear the registration area and keep traffic moving.”
“Early check-ins have always been bad, but this year they are much worse. I had one recently show up for a tent site at 7:58 a.m. when check-in is 1 p.m. I used to charge $10, but that isn’t nearly enough to discourage the practice. It seems, among owners, that the charge is all over the board. Some charge much more than $10, and some just let them come on in and that ruins having a policy for the rest of us.”
“Some campers start rolling in at 10 a.m., well before the current campers are even gone. I don’t charge for early arrivals because I don’t want my parking lot backed up for hours with those who won’t pay and just hang around. Sometimes on a Friday, we can have 160 check-ins to process, and I can’t schedule enough staff early to handle those earlier check-in hours.”
“We don’t currently charge anything for early arrivals. If there is a site available, we let them in early. If there isn’t a site, they have to wait.”
What do you think? Have you encountered an early check-in fee on any of your campground stays? If so, please tell us about it in the comments below. Thanks!
##RVT1008
The one time it happened they wanted to charge us $25 to check in early. We were actually 5 minutes early. I opted to stand in the office for 5 minutes and not pay the fee
That is totally ridiculous! 5 minutes early and they wanted to charge!??!
I would have been standing right next to you!
Me too.
I’ve seen it listed in several policies, but we’ve never had to pay it. Of course we generally don’t arrive as early as I hope we will, therefore I don’t think we’ve ever put someone’s policy/ fee to the test!
Faced an early check in fee once…left and had a nice late lunch at a local eatery. Returned to the campground at the appropriate time. Thanks for the very enjoyable, essentially free lunch.
I just time my arrival and departure times based on their schedule. Sometimes, it can be a short drive,so I leave later than my usual 0900.
I was unaware of this when I ran into this fee last year at a KOA. It was $10. I paid it but I will not do so again. Just another example of american greed.
Yes, greed on the part of campers who want to get extra time for the same $$!
As camp hosts, early arrivals are the most irritating part of the job. During the COVID height, we had to spray down all touchables (picnic tables, spigots, poles) plus rake/leaf blow and clean fire pits. The same job that took us about 5-10 minutes per site 2 years ago takes double or more time now…particularly when campers leave their trash on the tables and in the fire pit (our little golf cart is not large enough for trash collection and it is not a service of the park). Recently we had an early arrival that protested and said he would wave the cleanup of his site…until he arrived to a load of poop that looked like a horse had stayed on the site! We carry a sharps container on the cart — guess what that is for? You wouldn’t believe what folks leave behind for you.
This spring we said enough. Let them pay someone for “hazardous duty” and then watch those prices go up!
Elk Meadows in Estes Park has been doing this for several years now. Got into an argument with them last year about the extra $25 charge and told them it would balance out when I left two hours early. Didn’t work, No they don’t do any cleanup at the sites. They will allow you to stay in a parking area until your time and you guessed it, they charge for this also. This year they now charge your guests to visit you at your site. Even if just for several hours, NOT spending the night. Unbelievable
I had to wait for about an hour one time because we arrived early and the people in our space had not left yet. We just parked over in the grass and waited.
I was just charged a late checkout fee of $20. It was in Florida and the remnants of Hurricane Elsa was passing and we wanted to wait to leave so it could by pass us. The park was ½ full.
Worked in a camp ground, in the Tetons, and we always had people wanting In early. We had them leave or park on the street until our 2pm check in. We had them wanting to stay late to go rafting but had them move to the street but they could walk back in for showers.
Our out time was 11, so bathrooms and peoples trash and litter could be cleaned up. Grass mowing and regular maintenance were preformed at this time.
People coming from park campgrounds would show up at 7:30 wanting in then gripe about that we had no spots. We were booked about 95% full all summer, so call ahead and be courteous.
Many parks are now doing this, usually always stated in reservation info.
We have encountered it, but have not been charged. I suspect the reason we have been charged is we are at most 30 minutes before checkin time.
This is interesting.I have never encountered this early fee.In fact I arrived 3 hours early yesterday at Ahoy RV Resort in foley,Alabama and since the site was vacant we were escorted to our reserved site.But hey,rules are rules.Let me also add that during my 485 mile trip up I75 and I10 every Rv dealer I passed were loaded with rv’s for sale.
Hi Tom On RV’s for sale I also looked at them on way home and hardly saw one Class A on the lots. We never saw a tag axel. We did see lots of 5th wheels and trailers.
Cruising along at 65 mph,I saw many class A’s.Just my observation.
We schedule our travel to leave BEFORE the check-out time of our current campground and arrive AFTER check-in time for the next campground. Usually the distance between the two campgrounds coupled with our travel style makes this easily accomplished. We sometimes have added a rest stop or a fuel stop to ensure that we don’t arrive early. I can sympathesize with campground employees trying to prepare sites for incoming campers, especially when the outgoing campers leave at the last possible moment. Given all that, I don’t have a problem with campgrounds charging a fee for early arrival, or a fee for late departure.
We try and do the same. There have been a few times when we arrived 15 minutes early and were told we had to wait. I can’t complain, I’m aware of check in time and I don’t spend money when I don’t have to.
Hmm, I get it, but no one, campgrounds for sure, cannot gauge how long people have had to travel, nor the distance they have driven to get to destination. If traffic was a breeze, might have allocated more time, and did not need it to get there. We should not be penalized for conditions outside of our control. Another reason to not stay in those places which charge me a fee to get their early. My wallet is the thing which speaks the loudest, not my voice.
I have only encountered at a well known resort type park where kids love everything. Now add to that the site lock in fee, with a blink that is total of 70.00 more in fees
The notion that the park needs the time to prepare the spot for the next camper is a joke in my opinion. I’ve never stayed anywhere that has been prepped for my arrival. Trash and cig butts in the bbq’s, paper blowing around, sewer caps off, water dripping, etc. It’s not really that I care that much but when people claim they clean and check spots I think it’s nuts. Now, on another note- there needs to be a better way to get people out on time. We’ve been held up, parked and waiting while campers claimed they didn’t even know what check out time was. Parks should be contacting campers at least an hour before hand to remind them to leave on time….just makes sense.
This is true, very few parks do site maintenance between campers. Bless the ones that do, but it’s usually raking gravel or mowing. No one ever seems to wipe off bird poo or clean garbage out of fire rings.
On the other hand, I’ve been ‘stalked’ by someone wanting to grab my spot 5 hours before checkout time. I wish that fellow had been asked if he really wanted to enter early at an extra cost of $25, or come back at the right time. My day wouldn’t have been ruined.
A lot depends on the check in time if the check in time is 1 pm that reasonable to observe, but if it is 3pm or 4 pm that is unreasonable. Due to the different reasons people have already listed here
We’ve looked at but not camped at campgrounds with early check in fees where check in wasn’t until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. A bit ridiculous really – who wants to travel so late in the afternoon? We try to time our trips so we arrive after check-in.
We paid an early check-in fee at the KOA in Devil’s Tower but at the time we were 2 hours early and staying for a week so it seemed worth it. The park we’re at now, Osens in Livingston, MT was glad to have us check-in an hour early since they are usually full and sometimes get slammed with check-ins. Most parks are willing to work with you.
This must an Eastern and RV park phenomenon. We have never encountered this policy anywhere in the West and certainly not in public campgrounds. We have had to wait for RVers leaving a site after check-in time, which is annoying. But we have never had a problem checking in early to an empty site, probably because we rarely arrive early and generally stay in public campgrounds.
Steve, read Betty’s post, guess not huh.
I will wait somewhere where it will be the most inconvenient for them if I can before I will pay an early check-in fee.
It seems reasonable for anyone who tries to check-in several hours ahead of check-in time. When we travel we try to time our arrival to one hour before check-in to one hour after check-in. We prefer to start traveling early so we can enjoy our next location and not feel as if we got there, had dinner, slept and hit the road again. Our experience has been that most campgrounds do little to nothing to the sites between guests. However, we have been to RV parks that have workampers sanitized the sewer and water connections as well as the picnic table and also clean the firepit. That being said we think many campground owners are looking for any opportunity to increase their revenue. The practice of using algorithms to determine fees seems to be the new fad. In a couple of years, when the new RV’ers realize they need to reserve months in advance to get a campsite, last minute reservations are difficult.
If your made aware, then yes, you have the option to just return later. If they jam you, without your knowledge, punish them and never go back.
We were charged $25.00 for checking in before 3:00! The campground was small, no one was in our site and it had already been cleaned! It was already 1:30. There was nowhere close to hang out since we were in the middle of farm country with narrow roads. We will never go to that park again. We have been full timers for 2 1/2 years and never run into a situation like this or rude owners like they were. Lemon Cove, CA.
At our campground we strictly enforce the no early check in rule. We have found that if you let people in early once, they tend to expect it every time. A case of give them an inch and they will expect a mile. On busy days, we have a lot of work before 1PM. Garbage rounds, weed control, firepits, mowing, poop patrol, you name it! Some days we don’t get it all done before 1PM. Complicating this are the guests who insist on pushing the 11AM check out time as late as they can!
We usually time our trips to get as close to the checkin time as possible. I think it’s OK for a campground to charge an early fee for more than an hour before their regular time but I would be angry if they tried to charge me if I was an hour or less early.
At our 3 parks we do exactly that. Anything outside of an hour before check in is $10, inside of that we make the exception.
What difference if several RVs check in early or EVERYONE arrives at 4:00 pm. Still could be a long line waiting to get checked in.
When I make a reservation I make a note in my reservation book of the check in time. We arrange our travels to arrive at, or shortly after that time as a courtesy to the owners. IF we ever felt the need to arrive early I would certainly call first and ask, before just showing up. If you checked with them first, possibly if the site was ready they might be more inclined to permit early arrival rather than showing up unexpectedly. It would have to be a serious reason for us to consider arriving early and paying an extra fee. I don’t want to be taken advantage of, so I want to treat others the same. We don’t know what other things people might be taking care of in between the check-out and check-in periods. With many places having a lack of work crews it could be putting extra pressure on them to get things done.
I was just notified of a $10 per hour early check in fee. I bit of a shock because check in is at 3pm and we have a noon check out at current camp and only 2 1/2 hour drive to new site. It is also interesting that a remote RV park would have this fee. I get the need for the fee and I am ok with it if it is clearly posted on website, then you can plan accordingly.
The notion they need the time to prep the site for the new customer is a joke, rarely has a campsite been clean and mowed before I arrived,. Trash and cigarettes in the fire pit really disgusting I don’t think they deserve an early check-in fee.
Yep! I’ve never seen site maintenance between campers. (I have seen grass mowed during our stay.)
That is a secret way of steeling money from people, and they fall for it and the campground owners get away with because they know people will pay it . Just go to walmart until the time is up then go back and tell them that you are smarter than the campground owners and you saved 25.00 ,that you can buy food from Walmart or cracker barrel for lunch.
We were allowed a 30 minute early check-in in the Tetons. Was very happy as I was getting sick, and needed the rest. Slept from noon to the next morning almost straight through.
Very interesting. In six years we have observed ONLY ONE campground perform site maintenance between campers. That was at a COE campground in Demopolis, AL. As for State Park campground employees, how many guys does it take to watch grass grow! For all those corporate owned or smaller independently owned campgrounds, we haven’t found one yet that actually lived up to all their on line hype. Maybe we just expect too much for the daily fee but I don’t think so. Adding an early check in fee is ridiculous unless the campground wants to provide a refund for an early check out!
Yep! I’ve never seen site maintenance between campers. (I have seen grass mowed during our stay.)
Dockweiler RV Park in Los Angeles (actually El Segundo) is a city run park that has had an early check in fee for many years. It is clearly listed on the website and on the arrival email. It used to be $25 but that was more than 5 years ago when I stopped going there for other reasons. I didn’t pay it, just waited. We had arrived 30 minutes early due to a fluke in LA traffic, who would ever expect to catch light traffic near LAX.
I am a early riser and like to hit the road before summer heat. I have been aware of early arrival fees for years! It’s not new! I try not to arrive before 11 am (standard check out time for RV/trailer sites) and I always offer at check in to pay for my early arrival. I’d say 65 to 75% of the time I am not charged.
Several campgrounds recently had the policy regarding early check in. These campgrounds nods not cut the grass or pick up the site I came to after the checkin time so I question whether it’s just a way to make more money. There were cigaret bits throughout the site and trash in the fire ring
We are full-time RV travelers, and over the past 7 years have stayed in 1300+ RV parks. Almost exclusively, check in is at 1pm, but there are exceptions. As far as “site prep”, at best the gravel site has been raked. This means diddly-squat once you’ve maneuvered your rig into the site. Not once have we seen grass cut between check-out and check-in, Grass is cut whenever management wants to do it. If the previous site occupants leave trash in the fire pit or around the site, obviously that can be a real pain for management, It does have to be cleaned up. Our opinion, at check-in, warn folks to clean-up before leaving. If not, charge for the clean-up. We’re a bit old fashioned but our parents taught us to leave a “camp site” cleaner than we found it. Unfortunately, this seems to be considered an outmoded form of courtesy! We were in an RV park in Utah a few days ago. Check-in was at 2pm, with a $25 penalty for check any time before 2 pm. 8-9 rigs all checked in at 2pm exactly! Chaos!
Couple of campgrounds have charged early check in and $25.00 to guarantee you get the site you choose when you booked the site.
Yep, the extra fee to lock in your reserved site is the one that really irritates me.
They are making it cheaper to stay at a hotel.
With your rv?
We only had an early check in situation once. No early fee but we were among a half dozen rigs waiting in the parking lot until 2 pm. Usually not a problem for us as travel time puts us at our destination in the late afternoon at the earliest.
I have never been charged but don’t arrive early because I have hosted at a park and realize they need some time to prep the sites. I think people who arrive more than a few minutes early deserve to be charged a reasonable fee or made to wait. People need to follow the rules and be good campers!!!!
As a park owner, it’s frustrating when campers arrive @930am with no phone call and expect to be let in. All campgrounds are extremely busy and we are happy to accommodate but stopping in 3-4 hours before check in without any notice is pretty crazy. I suggest to call ahead before showing up.
We stopped over for 2 nights ( Thurs & Fri) at Misty Mtn. Resort in West Virginia. Apparently popular ATV weekenders destination. ( They were everywhere).
We had the office staff calling my cell phone the morning of our departure, multiple times and wanting us to vacate our site early ( 2 hours) before checkout because the next campers had arrived early and we’re blocking their entrance! (uh why is this now our problem) Ridiculous!
One call to us and we would have congenially done our best to pack up and leave a bit early. But repeatedly calling ? We made sure not to leave one minute before checkout time. They even stationed a staff member sitting in their golf cart by our site watching like a vulture for us to leave.
Although we really liked the campground – we have never stayed here again. Never will.
Wow, never heard that before. I would think it takes real nerve and no conscience. Would you mind naming the place?
We are campground owners and have considered adding this fee although we don’t currently have it. I’m surprised at many of the comments that other parks don’t mow or clean up between campers as we budget a lot of time, energy and manpower to make sure every site is ready for the next guest. It has been a rough year to find employees so maybe that is impacting these parks? It certainly complicates our process when RVs show up hours early and want to set up. It does also cost money in utility costs and redirecting staff from other duties to rush site prep. Also the logjam It creates is annoying to guests trying to depart. Not sure we will charge anything this year but we are considering it for next year, not as a money maker but mainly to manage the process better. Good discussion though and appreciate this forum for bringing up topics like this so we can strive to improve the camping experience.
We have never been charged an early arrival fee, but have been asked to wait a little while a couple of times. What gets me is the people who over stay their sites from 30 min to a couple of hrs. We had to wait 2 hrs at a TX SP site passed the ck in time of 2pm. Ck out was noon, & SP did nothing to clear the site. If we want to stay later on our departure day, we book for the next day, then we can leave anytime the day before.
One time at a KOA. We were 5 miles from the time zone and did not realize we were early. 15$ extra , but that one is OFF my list for future travel.
We usually call the day before & see if our site is being used by someone else that night. If it is not we politely if we can come in an hour or 2 early. We have never been asked to pay for that extra time.
I always ask about early arrival. I once forgot to ask about pet fees and it cost me dearly over a 10 day stay with three pets. If you ask about early arrival and they say no it is not hard to plan an acceptable schedule for arrival.
I was traveling with my son and his handicapped wife. We were 55 minutes early at Adventure Bound campground and were charged $30.00 for early arrival. I thought this was way overboard. Will not use this campground again.
If the policy is posted, it should be expected by the campers. I see the park owner’s side of it. I plan my travel accordingly. I have been late a lot but never try to arrive early. If I do arrive before check in time, I typically stop and eat if there is some place that can accommodate our rig, and if not, I pay the fee if it is charged. Seems to me people should be able to read the policy and be ready to deal with it.
We have a real problem with the 2:00 & 3:00 check-ins. We encountered this many times as we are full timers. We try to plan on arriving when they want but sometimes traffic is great and you get there early. We are avoiding all RV parks with this ridiculous practice – if their check out is 11:00 there should be NO problem checking the site by 1:00. We’ve noticed all they do is drive thru on their golf carts and leave because there is usually NOTHING to clean – it’s NOT a hotel room where you physically change beds, clean bathrooms etc.! These campgrounds that charge $25.00 because you arrive at 2:30 instead of 3:00 are just greedy. Raise your rates if you want more money!